Self-medication in Primary Dysmenorrhea among Undergraduate Students in a Medical College: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Primary dysmenorrhea is painful menstruation in women with normal pelvic anatomy, usually beginning during adolescence, primarily associated with a normal ovulatory cycle. There is an increased likelihood of self-medication among medical students. The aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of self-medication in primary dysmenorrhea among undergraduate students in a medical college. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical college among undergraduate female students with primary dysmenorrhea from 1 February 2022 to 31 May 2022. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of the same institute (Reference number: 254/2021). Convenience sampling was done. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among 213 students with primary dysmenorrhea, self-medication was found to be in 78 (36.62%) (30.15-43.09, 95% Confidence Interval)). Among all the self-medications used, mefenamic acid was most common, used by 45 (57.69%) students, followed by paracetamol 11 (14.10%). Conclusions: The prevalence of self-medication practice in primary dysmenorrhea among undergraduate students was lower when compared to similar studies done in similar settings. Keywords: dysmenorrhea; menstruation; prevalence; self medication.

Health Seeking Behaviour among Medical Students in a Teaching Hospital of Nepal: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Medical students are more prone to suffer from various physiological and psychological problems but rather than seeking for formal health care, they tend to do informal consultation and often practice self medication. Thus, this study aimed to find out the health seeking behavior of medical students. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done among first and second year medical students of a teaching hospital from September to November 2019 after taking ethical approval from Institutional Review Committe. Total of 235 students were included in the study and self administered questionnaire was used. Data entry and analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0. RESULTS: Among 235 students who participated in the study, 172 (73%) reported having health problems in the last 12 months, and fever and headache were commonly reported by 21 (13%) and 18 (50%) students, respectively. Total of 112 (65%) students visited hospital/clinic for health problems and reason given for not visiting hospital/clinic was 12 (28%) thinking that the problem was minor. University hospital was the most preferred place 189 (80%) during health problem and parents were the first people for consultation 116 (49%). Mean duration of absenteeism was 2.17±4.1 days and 167 (88%) visited hospital more than five times. CONCLUSIONS: Health problems were common among students and most of them required multiple hospital visits. Many students seeked for health from hospital/ clinic but informal consultations were also seen.

Practice of Breastfeeding and its Barriers among Women Working in Tertiary Level Hospitals.

INTRODUCTION: Breastfeeding provides ideal food for newborns and prevents recurrent infection and malnutrition in infants. In Nepal, breastfeeding is a universal practice but exclusive breastfeeding is low. As there is increased involvement of women in workforce, practice of breastfeeding may have been compromised. The main objective of the study was to examine the practice and barriers of breastfeeding among women working in tertiary level hospitals of Nepal. METHODS: This was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study. Study participants were women working in Dhulikhel Hospital and Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital and was conducted from December 2017 to June 2018. Ethical approval was taken from institutional review committee of both institutions. Total of 208 women were included in the study and face to face interview was conducted. Data entry and analysis was done using statistical package of social sciences. RESULTS: Breastfeeding practice was universal and colostrum was fed by 195 (94%) women. Pre-lacteal feeding was given by 14 (7%) women and 119 (57%) initiated breastfeeding within one hour of birth. Total of 93 (45%) children were exclusively breastfed for any duration while 10 (11%) were exclusively breastfed for six months. The mean duration of breastfeeding was 14.57 months and 90 (43%) started complementary feeding before six months. Total of 97 (51%) women and 42 (47%) women stated work as barrier for not exclusively breastfeeding and early complementary feeding respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Exclusive breastfeeding was very low and children were breastfed for less than two years. Complementary feeding was also started earlier and work was stated as the main barrier for poor breastfeeding practice.